As a must-see attraction for tourists in the Yantai Mountain Scenic Area, Shicuo Church in Fujian Province was built in 1856 with funds raised by British expatriates who lived in Fuzhou.
On May 4th, we came to the Yantai Mountain Scenic Spot in Fuzhou, approaching Shicuo church in the Cangshan District, which was not yet open to the public due to COVID-19.
Volunteer tour guides at the scenic spot introduces that it was designed by Hong Kong civil engineer T. L. Walker and constructed by local workers, being completed in 1862.
Originally named St. John's Church, it is a Gothic-style building made of blue and gray granite and diabase. Since the church was built with stone, it is commonly known as “Shicuo Church” which means stone house church. It was an important place for Christians from seventeen foreign consulates in Fuzhou to hold religious activities. Buttresses are used for the outer walls, wooden trusses are used for the roof trusses, and the roof consists of double-layered small blue tiles. The plan of the church is roughly I-shaped, with an area of 414 square meters. It consists of the main hall, side hall, entrance hall, and altar. The main hall is rectangular, with double slope tops, and gables on the east and west sides. The west gable has three Gothic pointed windows. On the top of the gable is a small octagonal bell tower with a towering top and a cross on it. On the west facade of Shicuo Church, only the octagonal bell tower that was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution can be seen.
Outside the gable is a prominent semicircular altar, both sides of which are side halls. The entrance hall is located in the side hall at the southwest corner, and the main entrance faces south, with a Gothic pointed door.
In 1906, the Episcopal Church established the Fujian Diocese, to which St. John's Church belongs. In the 1950s, the Anglican Church of China broke away from the Church of England, joining the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. St. John's Church belongs to the Fujian Three-Self Patriotic Movement. During the "Cultural Revolution", ceasing its activities, the church was appropriated as a printing factory. In 1992, it was announced as a Fuzhou municipal cultural relics protection unit. With the renovation work basically completed in May 2012, it was announced in 2018 as part of the ninth batch of Fujian provincial cultural relics protection units with the name "Yantai Mountain John's Church".
Outside the church there originally was a cemetery, and later it was developed into a street market. There are two famous ancient trees in front of the church, one an ancient ginkgo tree under the first-class protection of Fuzhou City, and the other an ancient camphor tree under the second-class protection of Fuzhou.
- Translated by Katherine Guo
5月4日，我们来到福州烟台山景区，绕有兴趣地走近位于仓山区一座还未对外开放的石厝教堂。
通过景区里导游志愿原者介绍，才知道这座教堂是1856年由福州英国侨民集资筹建，聘请香港土木工程师T. L. Walker设计，本地工人施工，于1862年落成。
该教堂原名称圣约翰堂（St. John’s Church），教堂为兰灰两色的花岗石和辉绿岩的砌成的仿哥特式建筑，因以石砌筑，俗称“石厝教堂”，当年十七个驻福州的外国领事馆基督教徒在此教堂举行宗教活动的重要场所。外墙用扶壁柱，屋架用木桁架，屋面为双层小青瓦。教堂平面近似工字形，面积414平方米，由教堂主厅、侧厅、门厅和圣坛等组成。主厅为长方形，双坡顶，东西两面为山墙，西山墙开三个哥特式尖券窗，山墙顶设有小型八角形钟塔，塔顶高耸，上有十字架，石厝教堂西立面，只能见文革期间被毁的八角形钟塔。
山墙外为突出半圆形圣坛。圣坛两侧为侧厅。门厅设在西南角侧厅位置，正门朝南，用哥特式尖券门。
1906年，圣公会成立福建教区。约翰堂属于圣公会福建教区。1950年代，中华基督教圣公会脱离英国教会，加入基督教三自爱国会，约翰堂属于福建基督教三自爱国会。“文化大革命”中，教会停止活动，教堂被挪用为印刷厂。1992年公布为福州市级文物保护单位。 2012年5月基本完成修缮工作。2018年以“烟台山约翰堂”名义公布为第九批福建省级文物保护单位。
石厝教堂外原为墓地，之后开发为街市，如今它已是烟台山风景区里游人必到的打卡景点。教堂前方还有两棵名古树，一棵是福州市一级保护的古银杏树，另一棵为福州市二级保护古樟树。
走近福州石厝教堂
As a must-see attraction for tourists in the Yantai Mountain Scenic Area, Shicuo Church in Fujian Province was built in 1856 with funds raised by British expatriates who lived in Fuzhou.
On May 4th, we came to the Yantai Mountain Scenic Spot in Fuzhou, approaching Shicuo church in the Cangshan District, which was not yet open to the public due to COVID-19.
Volunteer tour guides at the scenic spot introduces that it was designed by Hong Kong civil engineer T. L. Walker and constructed by local workers, being completed in 1862.
Originally named St. John's Church, it is a Gothic-style building made of blue and gray granite and diabase. Since the church was built with stone, it is commonly known as “Shicuo Church” which means stone house church. It was an important place for Christians from seventeen foreign consulates in Fuzhou to hold religious activities. Buttresses are used for the outer walls, wooden trusses are used for the roof trusses, and the roof consists of double-layered small blue tiles. The plan of the church is roughly I-shaped, with an area of 414 square meters. It consists of the main hall, side hall, entrance hall, and altar. The main hall is rectangular, with double slope tops, and gables on the east and west sides. The west gable has three Gothic pointed windows. On the top of the gable is a small octagonal bell tower with a towering top and a cross on it. On the west facade of Shicuo Church, only the octagonal bell tower that was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution can be seen.
Outside the gable is a prominent semicircular altar, both sides of which are side halls. The entrance hall is located in the side hall at the southwest corner, and the main entrance faces south, with a Gothic pointed door.
In 1906, the Episcopal Church established the Fujian Diocese, to which St. John's Church belongs. In the 1950s, the Anglican Church of China broke away from the Church of England, joining the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. St. John's Church belongs to the Fujian Three-Self Patriotic Movement. During the "Cultural Revolution", ceasing its activities, the church was appropriated as a printing factory. In 1992, it was announced as a Fuzhou municipal cultural relics protection unit. With the renovation work basically completed in May 2012, it was announced in 2018 as part of the ninth batch of Fujian provincial cultural relics protection units with the name "Yantai Mountain John's Church".
Outside the church there originally was a cemetery, and later it was developed into a street market. There are two famous ancient trees in front of the church, one an ancient ginkgo tree under the first-class protection of Fuzhou City, and the other an ancient camphor tree under the second-class protection of Fuzhou.
- Translated by Katherine Guo
Approaching Fujian Church as Tourist Attraction
